Baby It's Cold Outside

 It Has Been a Unique and Blessed Christmas

      Christmas as a Missionary is like no other Christmas.  It has been a special and wonderful season.  We have felt the spirit and love of our Savior and our hearts are softened as we feel his love for us. We had the opportunity to host all 10 YSA Elder and Sisters plus a couple Elders from Stretford Ward and 2 members in our YSA Ward.  We had 16 in total in our little, cozy flat.  It not only kept us busy and not homesick on Christmas day but we also felt a wonderful spirit in our home.  These young Elders and Sisters work so hard and are so faithful and we were privileged to be with them. We did our annual family tradition of "Pass the Ball" and the missionaries all shared stories of what had been important to them this past year.  They loved it and many said they wanted to do it with their family.  We heard heart-felt testimonies of faithful young men and women who are serving the Savior.  It was very touching. We grow to love our missionaries and miss them when they transfer or go home.  

       The Mission Christmas Party was a  good time to meet with 1/2 the missionaries in the EMM. We ate a turkey dinner, were entertained by some quite creative and talented skits and music from Elders and Sisters, exchanged white elephant gifts and were instructed by President Ulrich on the true story of Christ's birth.  

     A few days after Christmas, Elder Pew spoke in the Stockport Ward about the importance of fasting. Both he and Brother Peter Robinson spoke about "It's A Wonderful Life" and how giving to others creates love and happiness for you.
     December 29 was the deadline for enrollment into the BYU-Idaho Pathway program in January.  We went to Liverpool on December 27 to give a language assessment test to 2 students; both passed.  Then we were up until 12:30am on the 29th working with a student and BYU-Idaho to get him enrolled just before the deadline.  There were a myriad of little issues that popped up, the worst being the student had 2 LDS accounts, one of which said he was a non-member.   We appreciate the help from BYU-I personnel to get the student included.
    Elder Pew was able to watch the BYU football bowl game in Miami this year.   It was an entertaining game, especially the brawl following.  Elder Pew commented, "about time they showed some fight".  It brought memories to him of a brawl he participated in against Utah on a very cold spring day in 1973.  There was even a nice picture in the Provo newspaper of it with Elder Pew (#5) right in the middle of it.  

Mission Christmas Party

Sister Ulrich, our Mission "Mum" ...everyone loves her. 

Missionaries perform skits. Each district had a 5 minute skit ready to entertain.

Elder Pew was the only Senior Elder who participated in the Push Up Contest... The winner did 57   pushups and won a Christmas Tie from Pres Ulrich.  Elder Pew came in with a strong 17 but was given 20 for effort.  Many others, including Sister Pew, were impressed. 

Elder Robinson happily receiving a gift. 

Elder Bruder with his new Nerf Gun...he received this during the White Elephant Gift Exchange. 

Someone Is Missing This Christmas...We Miss and Love our Family

What a wonderful gift from our family!  These three little paintings are of our three homes in Kaysville.  The first one was built by us (literally in 1975- when Amby was born) The second one was built in 1978, right after Macy was born, and the third one built 22 years later in 1999.  What wonderful memories we have of these homes and what a beautiful, thoughtful gift!  We loved it !  Can't wait to get them home and framed.  Our grandchildren gave us a beautiful nativity (that they created themselves) that we have displayed this season.  We posted a clip on YOUTUBE of us telling the Nativity story with the props from their gift.

These two Elders (Jin and Suriyachan) did the Videography of the Nativity...We can always count on our Elders! 

We loved our FaceTime Session with our family on Christmas Eve.  It almost felt like we were there with them as we "Passed the Ball" and told of what we were grateful for this past year.  We spoke with each grandchild and then shed a tear or two when we hung up.  

Preparations for a Grand Christmas Dinner

The Menu:

Shrimp with Cocktail Sauce

Roast Beef

Gravy

Yorkshire Pudding

Lancashire Cheesy Potatoes

Roasted Vegetables

Green Salad with Wellsdale Cranberry Cheese, Croutons and Balsamic Dressing

Pumpkin Pie, Pecan Pie and Cookie Dough Cheesecake

My FIrst Pecan Pie...I really do love my husband because I am allergic to Pecans and had to put them in with a baggie on my hand.  

Sister Hill's Easy Pie Crust

1/3 cup oil

1 cup flour

1/2 tsp salt

Mix with a fork or pastry Blender

Add 1 Tablespoon cold water

Mix into a ball

Roll out between two pieces of Cling Film

Remove top piece of plastic

Ease into a pie Pan..prick with a fork and bake  

Lancashire Cheesy Potatoes (not to be confused with Funeral Potatoes)

 Wash and boil about 12 potatoes with skins on

Brown 4 large onions until lightly brown

In a large pot or skillet, melt 1/2 cup butter, add 4 TB olive oil

Add 1/2 cup- 3/4 cup flour

Make a roux- Stir constantly ..

When bubbly pour in about 15 oz Chicken broth ( 500 ml )

add 1 cup water

1/4 cup vinegar

Salt and pepper

Stir until thickened

Remove from heat and add

Add 4 cups grated cheese

Peel and slice potatoes

Add potatoes and onions to cheesy mixture

The YSA Elders brought the Shloer, a traditional celebratory non alchoholic drink here in England.

Christmas Eve with our Elders and Sisters here in our flat, we served Turkey Cranberry Bagel Sandwiches, Crisps and Cookies...and lots of sweets
They enjoyed the movie "The Best Two Years"  ...and they are experiencing the Best Two Years

Our great YSA Sisters and Elders...(left back) Sister Gjikaj from Albania, Sister Riley from Austrailia, Elder Carlson from Pleasant Grove, Elder Curtis from Logan, Elder Clark from Logan, Elder Green from St George, Elder Christiansen from Pleasant Grove, (Front) Elder Razanadhy from Madagascar, Elder Jin from China, and Elder Suriyachan from Thailand.

After Christmas Eve, tables are set for Christmas Day. We served 16. 

Sister Pew- Chief Caterer in her new festive Christmas Apron...Thank You Butterfield's!

Some Elders and Sisters arrived at 10am to watch movies and Skype
The Movies they enjoyed on Christmas Day... Tangled, Despicable Me, Elf and Elder Pew requested that we all watch...It's A Wonderful Life.  Most had never seen it and they all thoroughly enjoyed it.

Elder Rondo from New Zealand, Amanda from Brazil and Sister Riley

This is Elder Suriyachan form Thailand Skyping his family.  We set up two computers in two rooms so the missionaries could do their Skype call home.  There were calls made to families in Madagascar, Austrailia, Bejing China, Albania, Thailand and Utah

Elder Clark carves the meat...he is an expert.

Ted, a recent convert from China came to our Christmas Day gathering and dinner.  He is delightful and brought two chinese dishes he had made.

Christmas Crackers are an English tradition and we all snapped our crackers and some wore the paper crowns. Here are Elders Christiansen and Elder Clark and on the right Elder Olsen from Logan, Elder Green and Elder Curtis

Yorkshire Pudding - that's right - it's not pudding!

Ted with the UK Ukelele 

Boxing Day

    It snowed in England !  We didn't see it in our neighborhood but it snowed in Greater Manchester Area on Boxing Day.  We caught a glimpse of it as we drove out of the city.  We spent Boxing Day with the Hoyle's and the Mee's.  Both had a huge buffet of food and games. We ate at both houses and went home super full. 

In the City Centre

On one of our walks in to the city we went into the Manchester Art Museum and saw the Fashion Exhibit...Cotton Couture...1950's Commission from Manchester.

Fashion from Famous Designers all tailored from Cotton Fabric

 Double Date with Michelle and Hadrian...

We went to Wasabi in China Town and had Sushi and other delicious Japanese Food

Conveyer Belt Sushi...Just take it off and they count up the plates at the end

And Then There was the  Dessert Room...

Yes..a whole other room upstairs which we sat down and ordered desserts

Oreo Mountain of Ice Cream

Warm Chocolate Pudding with Vanilla Ice Cream

British Pantomime 

    We attended our First British Pantomime. (Panto) We bundled up on a cold night and walked to the Manchester Opera House to see Snow White starring Priscilla Presley as the Wicked Queen. She is 69 Years old and frankly looks pretty good.  The other actors and actresses did a fantastic job and we enjoyed seeing families together enjoying live theatre. For our US friends, Pantomime is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment. It is an English tradition that has been going on for 300 years and is typically performed at Christmas time.  The production is usually a well known fairy tale. The scenery for the production was amazing and it was completely entertaining.  There were a few lines that we didn't understand but for the most part we enjoyed the songs, slapstick comedy and dancing.  We participated in the singing, clapping and shouting out the phrases to the performers. "He's Right Behind You" ! 

 Old Manchester Opera House built in 1912.

The cast of the Panto

Theatre Selfie

Other Bits and Bobs

Love this!  We received several of these traditional Milk Trays (Boxes of Milk Chocolate) for Christmas from friends.

Love this...Rochdale-Birthplace of Co-operation...Guess there had never been co-operation until there was Rochdale

Windscreens ???....OHHH  Windshields!

And in News Back Home...An Important Day for our Family

Our oldest Grandchild, Rex Bell received the Priesthood on December 28th... 

We love this 12 Year Old!  

New Words and Phrases:

Notes = paper money

They don't have a "Scooby Doo" =  They have no idea